Health care professionals’ experiences of receiving phone calls from parents, after discharge of their infant from a specialist children’s cardiac centre.

Aim: To explore staff experiences and perceptions of telephone communication with parents
Method: All HCPs and Medical Secretaries taking telephone calls from parents were invited to participate in an online survey (July-Sept 2019). Ethical approval was obtained from University of Worcester. Descriptive statistical analysis of quantitative and thematic analysis of qualitative data was undertaken,
Results: 33 HCPs participated. 65.6% (n=21) had worked in the speciality over 10 years. Calls were mainly taken on the wards (78.1%, n=25). 90% (n=28) took up to 5 calls per shift. The most common reason for the calls were: Concern about child's cardiac condition or deterioration (n=30); medication (n=26); wound care (n=20); general illness (n=14). Challenges of taking calls included: not being able to see the child and difficulty giving advice; dealing with actions arising from call alongside busy workload; parents running out of medications and calling out of hours. Positives included: signposting and preventing further deterioration; getting expert advice quickly and reassuring parents.
Conclusion: Taking calls can be time consuming alongside the daily workload and challenges arise when HCPs are unable to see the child or parents run out of medication out of hours. The Congenital Heart Assessment Tool1 should be reinstated, alongside greater parental preparation for safe medicines management at home.

1. Gaskin KL, Barron DJ, Daniels A (2016) Parents’ preparedness for their infant’s discharge following first-stage cardiac surgery: development of a parental early warning tool, Cardiology in the Young, online first June 2016 doi: 10.1017/S1047951116001062